African students in the city are terrorised lot after the recent searches conducted by the Hyderabad and Cyberabad Police in their houses, in order to confirm the validity of their stay.
Footage of police searching the homes of African nationals has been shared through social media, raising concerns about their safety and the apprehensions of racial discrimination against them.
African Students’ Association (ASA), representing the students from Africa who are pursuing various courses in the city colleges, has expressed concerns about the police barging into the homes of the students.
President of the ASA, Ajah O. Peter has informed that he had received over 15 complaints from different parts of the city including Sainikpuri, Banjara Hills, Toli Chowki, and Sun City where majority of the students reside.
“We have been informed that the police banged at the doors of the residents post midnight to verify documents in Sainikpuri,” Mr.Peter said. As of now, he has been doing rounds of various police stations in the city to address the issue.
At Banjara Hills police station, he says, he found three African students all of whom had valid documents. Besides, they were visitors from Uttar Pradesh who were staying with friends in the city.
“As an association, we support the search for documents because that’s what the law says. But they should not go about it at midnight. That would create unnecessary attention. They should do it within the day, and I am sure that Africans are not running away. Because they are studying here. If you run away because of an expired document, that means you are expelling yourself from studies,” Mr. Peter said addressing media immediately after the searches.
The Association’s representatives assert that the expired documents always do not indicate criminal intentions. In majority of the instances, the residence permits were not renewed owing to absence of bona-fide certificates from their respective colleges due to non-payment of tuition fee.
“Owing to financial difficulties, our parents might not be able to send us money on time. If documents expire before that, we would be helpless,” explained another student.
“Africans are nice people. When police have a problem, it will be better if they contact the association as we can act as the bridge between police and the students,” Mr. Peter said.
Station house officers of the Kushaiguda and Neredmet police stations have refused to acknowledge any searches conducted during midnight, while the Banjara Hills SHO K.Srinivas said 11 foreign nationals were apprehended in his jurisdiction during previous week for overstaying. The searches were conducted across the city in collaboration with the Bureau of Immigration and Foreigner Regional Registration Office.
